Google Cloud Organization Policy vs Google Cloud Terraform Policy Validation

Google Cloud Organization Policy lets administrators set constraints on Google Cloud resources across organizations, folders, and projects. Descendant resources inherit policies by default, so teams can establish restrictions across a resource hierarchy. Examples include limiting resource sharing by domain, restricting IAM service account use, and limiting where new resources may be created. Organizations can define custom constraints for resource creation and updates. Policies can be managed in the Google Cloud console, CLI, or REST API; the API exposes policy and constraint resources at organization, folder, and project levels. Dry-run policies record violations in audit logs without blocking the action, while Policy Intelligence tools can test proposed changes, identify non-compliant resources, monitor workflow impact, and show policy coverage. The service is free, with the Organization Policy Service API listed at free. Policies use YAML and JSON. Changes can take up to 15 minutes to take effect, and most enforcement is not retroactive. Basic Support is included for Google Cloud customers; paid technical support tiers are also available.

Google Cloud Terraform Policy Validation checks Terraform plans against organizational security and governance constraints before infrastructure changes are applied. The `gcloud beta terraform vet` command evaluates Terraform plan JSON, retrieving project data through Google Cloud APIs. It can flag violations, issue warnings, or halt a deployment before production; it returns exit code 0 when no violations are found and 2 when they are. Platform teams can place validation between plan and apply in CI/CD workflows using Cloud Build, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions. The command accepts Terraform 0.12 or later plan JSON and requires a policy library and the Google Cloud CLI `terraform-tools` component. Policies can cover supported resources from Terraform's google and google-beta providers, and constraints can be reused with other tools that support the framework. The command is free and client-side. The feature is in Preview under Pre-GA terms, where support may be limited. Security Command Center IaC validation has separate requirements: Premium or Enterprise activation at the organization level and a specified role. That workflow also requires Terraform Google provider version 5.5 or later.